Learn with Emilia · Story 2
About “Emilia Counts Pumpkins”
- Ages: 2-5
- Length: 6 min
- Season: Learn with Emilia, story 2
It's pumpkin-patch day! Emilia fills her little red wagon one pumpkin at a time and counts every one, all the way up to a giant tenth pumpkin that is much too heavy to lift... but not too heavy to roll.
Counting sticks best when every number matches something a child can see, and this story is built that way. Pumpkins arrive in Emilia's wagon one per number, each with its numeral shown large and something that sets it apart: a bumpy one, a tall one, a flat one Pip sits on, a white one, a striped one. At five the narrator stops to count the fingers on one hand. The last pumpkin is far too heavy to lift, so Emilia notices that round things roll. Back home the faces are drawn on with markers instead of carved, and a Your Turn round has the viewer count small groups.
- counting to ten
- one-to-one counting
- fall
- problem solving
- describing words
This story is coming to YouTube soon. You can read it below and print its coloring page now.
What Emilia learns
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
Tips for grown-ups
- Touch each pumpkin on the screen as you count, one touch per number. Matching one number to one object is the skill the whole story practices.
- Count fingers along with the five page, then keep going onto the other hand for six through ten.
- On the Your Turn page, pause before each answer and let your child count first.
- Talk about the giant pumpkin: what else could Emilia have tried? Rolling it is a nice example of solving a problem by noticing a shape.
- Use the story's describing words, like bumpy, tall, flat and striped, to compare real pumpkins, apples or stones.
- If you decorate pumpkins this fall, use markers or stickers as Emilia does, so your child can do every part.
Talk about it
After watching, ask:
- How many pumpkins were in the wagon at the end?
- What color was pumpkin number five?
- Why couldn't Emilia lift the giant pumpkin?
- How did she get it to the wagon?
- How many fingers are on one hand?
- Where was Pip pretending to sleep?
Try this together
Line up ten small things, like blocks or spoons, and count them into a basket or toy wagon one at a time, saying each number as it goes in. Then tip them out and let your child be the counter.
Free coloring page
Emilia Counts Pumpkins: print it (US Letter or A4) or color it on screen.
Read the story
One sunny fall day, under skies big and blue,
Emilia went to the pumpkin patch. And Pip came too!
Pumpkins and pumpkins, on vines curly and green,
the most pumpkins Emilia had ever seen!
She pulled her red wagon, all empty inside.
Let's fill it with pumpkins, and give Pip a ride!
Count with Emilia! Let's count every one,
all the way up to ten! Counting is fun!
A pumpkin rolled up, as small as a ball.
One! One pumpkin! The littlest of all.
Then a bumpy one bounced, with a bump on its top.
Two! Two pumpkins! Plop, plop!
A tall one came next, standing nice and straight.
Three! Three pumpkins! This wagon is great!
How many pumpkins? Can you count them with me?
One, two, three! Three pumpkins! Yippee!
Then a flat one, as flat as a cushion or chair.
Four! Four pumpkins! And Pip sat right there!
Then a white one rolled in, as white as the snow.
Five! Five pumpkins! A whole hand! Let's go!
How many fingers are on one little hand?
Five! One, two, three, four, five! Isn't that grand?
Six! A green one. Six pumpkins! Plop!
Seven! A tiny one. Seven! It fits on top!
Eight! A round one. Eight! In it goes!
Nine! A striped one. Nine! Look how it grows!
Nine pumpkins, piled up in a big, bumpy heap,
and Pip on the top, pretending to sleep.
Then she saw it: a pumpkin, so big and so round,
the biggest, most giant-est pumpkin she'd found!
She hugged it, and tugged it. Heave... ho!
But the giant pumpkin was too heavy to go.
Then Emilia smiled. A pumpkin is round!
And round things can roll, rolling over the ground!
She rolled it, and rolled it, right up to the rest.
Ten! Ten pumpkins! The giant one's the best!
Now let's count them all, from the littlest one!
One, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine... ten! Well done!
At home, with her markers, she drew on each one:
a smile, and a wink, and a face like the sun!
And the giant pumpkin got the biggest grin yet,
the happiest pumpkin that you've ever met!
Your turn! Let's count, you and me!
How many pumpkins are here?
Two! One, two!
How many pumpkins now?
Four! One, two, three, four!
And how many here?
Five! One, two, three, four, five!
How many pumpkins in all?
Ten! Ten pumpkins!
You can count to ten! Hooray for you!
Ten pumpkins, all counted! So let's sing,
and clap, and dance, and do the We-Know-It thing!
Then over to her backpack, for pin number two:
a bright orange pumpkin! Click! Shiny and new!
Two pins on her backpack! Is she proud? Oh, yes!
Eight more to go! What's next? Can you guess?
Every day, there's something new to know,
and every time you learn, you grow, and grow!
Next time, Emilia packs a rainbow picnic! Bye-bye!
Questions parents ask
Is this a Halloween story?
No. It is a fall pumpkin-patch story with nothing spooky in it, and the pumpkins get friendly faces drawn on with markers.
My child can say the numbers to ten. Is this still useful?
Yes. Reciting numbers and counting actual objects are different steps, and the story practices the second one by bringing in exactly one pumpkin per number.